Chapter 673 Cornered?

The mountain wind swept through, pressing against the surrounding trees and causing the branches and leaves to rustle loudly.

However, Moses's world was completely silent at this time.

Saiyu's three Nen monkeys had deprived him of his hearing, vision, and speech.

At this moment, not only can he not hear any sound, but the world before his eyes is also pitch black.

However, he was not panicked at all. He stayed where he was and withdrew the shadow clone that were still within the combat zone from a distance.

As the shadow clone dissipated, the effects of the abilities from Saiyu's three Nen monkeys still remained on Moses.

'Attacking a shadow clone can also cause the ability effects to 'spread' to the main body... That's a bit unexpected...'

Moses thought to himself.

The reason he was willing to take the risk land a blow on Saiyu is that, although he was sure that the three Nen monkeys lacked lethal force, he had also considered swapping places with his shadow clone at the last moment.

In the end, he succeeded.

And at that moment, it should have been his opportunity to take control of the battle.

However, he hadn't expected the effects of the three Nen monkeys' abilities to bypass the shadow clone and directly affect him.

This unexpected outcome had cost him the chance to press his advantage.

'Saiyu the Monkey... He must know about my abilities.'

Moses opened his eyes, which were now pale, and thought to himself:

'That's why he was willing to use himself as bait to create an opportunity for the three Nen monkeys to attack. And because of the unique mechanics of the Nen monkeys' abilities, he didn't have to worry about the attacks missing…'

Raising his right hand to lightly touch the Rat Jewel bead, Moses roughly guessed Saiyu's tactical approach.

'It seemed he was confident that I wouldn't easily leave this place, so he planned to take his time dealing with me.'

'This was indeed a well-targeted operation.'

Thinking of this, Moses became worried about Hawk's safety.

"I can't just rush to the temple. I'll have Rat Jewel go find Hawk first."

Moses tapped the Rat Jewel bead twice with his finger.

The bead trembled slightly, and then returned to its original state in a burst of soft white light.

"Chuu!"

Rat Jewel, who had transformed back to its original form, fell to the ground. When it looked up and saw the pale emptiness in Moses's eyes, the Aura mass at the end of its tail morphed into an expression of concern.

Moses was unable to speak, so he could only raise his hand and pointed in the direction of the temple at the mountaintop based on his memory before losing his vision.

Following Moses's gesture, Rat Jewel looked towards the temple, a look of understanding flashed across its big round eyes.

"Chuu!"

It withdrew its gaze and looked up at Moses again.

"Chuu…"

It seemed unaware that Moses had lost his hearing. It jumped a few times on the spot and then ran towards the temple on the mountaintop with its short legs.

Although it can use the [Rat's Path] to quickly reach the temple, Rat Jewel currently lack a charging source, so to be on the safe side, it can only go to the temple step by step.

Moses couldn't see Rat Jewel's movements, nor could he hear anything.

However, he could sense Rat Jewel's gradually fading Aura.

"Next..."

Using his Aura Perception to 'watch' Rat Jewel head toward the temple, Moses turned slightly to face the general direction where Saiyu was, relying on his memory of the terrain.

Without his hearing and vision, it would be unrealistic to confront Saiyu head-on.

But before retreating, he had implanted the black tendrils into Saiyu's body, allowing him to at least sense Saiyu's approximate location.

And in order to eliminate the possibility that Saiyu suddenly chooses to use Zetsu, it is necessary to keep him occupied in this area.

He just needed to wait for the black tendrils to form the Eye of Sight, and then he could end the battle quickly.

As his thoughts raced, Moses directly manipulated his Aura to create two shadow clones.

'Then I'll wait.'

Moses controlled the first shadow clone to rush into the forest.

Even though he had been deprived of the capital to fight directly...

But Kyoka Suigetsu has been liberated, which means that he didn't need to engage in direct combat to deal with Saiyu.

Moreover, without needing to use the black sword, Moses could allocate more of his Aura to the shadow clones, significantly boosting their strength.

In the forest…

Saiyu briefly tended to his wounds, then dismissed the three Nen monkeys.

The Nen monkeys' abilities were to deprive the senses like vision, and now that the abilities had been activated, they were no longer needed.

After all, dismissing the Nen beasts wouldn't affect the ongoing ability effects, and it would free up more Manifested Aura for combat.

"The night is still long. I don't mind taking my time."

Saiyu said, striding confidently toward the path leading to the temple at the mountain's peak. As he walked, he materialized the Nyoi Bo, casually gripping it in his hand.

Now that he didn't need to allocate aura to maintain the three Nen monkeys, he could ensure that this Nyoi Bo was at full strength.

The reason why Moses was able to easily cut off the Nyoi Bo with one slash just now was precisely because of its insufficient Aura.

"Tch-"

Twirling the Nyoi Bo in his hand, Saiyu couldn't help but think back to the earlier scene. Even though he felt victory was assured, he was still somewhat annoyed.

He kept wondering...

'In that situation, how could that bastard have dared to make such a decision?'

'As a result, I was taking an unexpected slash.'

'Obviously, this battle could have been won more perfectly.'

Saiyu's annoyance lingered, but it wouldn't affect what he needed to do next.

"It seems I'll just have to beat him down a few more times."

Suddenly, Saiyu clenched the Nyoi Bo in his hand, a cold look flashed in Saiyu's eyes, and his right foot stepped forward, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

In the next moment, the slowly drifting dust was scattered by a burst of Aura.

Saiyu's foot suddenly exerted force, propelling his body like an arrow shot from a bow into the nearby forest.

"Found you, you bastard."

A bright glow of Aura appeared in Saiyu's eyes as he swiftly weaved through the forest. Suddenly, he extended his right arm forward, the other end of the Nyoi Bo held between his fingers was pointed at the darkness in front of him.

Extend!

A surge of Aura flowed from Saiyu's right hand into the Nyoi Bo, causing it to rapidly elongate and pierce into the darkness ahead.

Thud!

The suddenly extended Nyoi Bo pierced through a figure in the dark forest.

Saiyu couldn't see the specifics of what was happening at the other end of the Nyoi Bo, but he could tell from the feedback through the staff that he had hit something.

Clearly-

The attack had pierced through a human body.

Without hesitation, Saiyu activated the Nyoi Bo's shortening ability.

In an instant, the Nyoi Bo began to retract from the end Saiyu was holding, pulling him forward like an escalator.

By extending the attacking end, he could strike from mid to long range.

By shortening the holding end, he could use the ability's mechanics to increase his movement speed.

This was a small trick Saiyu had developed using the Nyoi Bo's mechanics. While not particularly practical, it was flashy and effective.